


The Movements of Aggression

by Kaggath



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: I would like to know of any inconsistencies as my knowledge is currently incomplete, Legends, SWTOR, Sith, Twi'lek, in celebration of May the Fourth though there are more short stories planned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 08:58:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14541237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaggath/pseuds/Kaggath
Summary: Small ripples in the past create massive waves in the future





	The Movements of Aggression

The stink of scorching tainted the air. Eleena followed Malgus into the heart of it. She never saw Malgus use a blaster, but if there was a weapon in the galaxy he didn’t have proficiency in, it was nothing she ever heard of. Clenching her fists at her sides she kept stride and tried to tamp down the remnants of panic that brought them here in the first place.

They came to a stop and her pulse creeped up again. Malgus gestured to her lane and she set the box on the utility table. Thumbing the latches with her eyes closed Eleena felt the box spring open. She didn’t want to look at them. She already knew what they could do, she didn’t want them to be in her hands.

Swallowing hard Eleena turned back to Malgus. He took it as searching for instruction, and not the silent plea it was. She never truly understood his reasons for taking her in, and he never answered the unspoken question, possibly even to himself. Her duties seemed unorthodox at best. Nothing made sense and the world she found herself in shifted under her feet.

“Stun,” Malgus said as the blaster clicked. “Kill.” The impossibly heavy fulcrum crescendoed over and over. Eleena struggled in the buoyant dizziness of fear as Malgus handed her the blaster. It burned a cold fire on her palm and she couldn’t hide her wince. His intense eyes missed no detail as Eleena took small steps to the lane, shrinking behind the barrel.

At least it wasn’t pointed at her. For now.

Eleena knew she couldn’t hide her fear from Malgus, but she did her best to keep quiet regardless. The target lanes were nearly empty, but molten eyes saw through walls and hearts. Eleena hadn’t been here long, but she learned fast. Weakness, should she succumb to it, would be her demise. With a trembling hand she thumbed the blaster down to stun.

“No.”

He read the question in her hunched frame. 

“Shoot to kill. Always.”

“Yes, Sir. Of course, Sir.” The words spilled quietly from her lips, eyes downcast. 

Tension in his eyes, in the air, in her shoulders dragged her under.

 

**18 Standard Hours Earlier**

Eleena knew her way around well enough. More importantly, she knew her duty for once. Retrieve an object she recognized from a location she knew. There was small comfort in understanding. 

Shoulders curled in, eyes declined, Eleena stayed out of the way of hurrying servants and Sith alike. Every being in her immediate surrounding was in a hurry to kill or be killed, to sweat or bleed or wound in every prickling way they could find. While they scuttled and sauntered and stalked their paces Eleena counted entryways until she found her destination. 

Shuddering as the door slid shut behind her, Eleena let herself catch her breath. She visited this room twice before, both times with the towering man she now served. The lights stayed off and Eleena let the shallow darkness soothe her. Her surroundings were always so bright and sharp and clinical. Imperial. Precise. The dim electronic glow smoothed those edges, even if only for a few moments as she retrieved her objective. Gathering it, and herself, Eleena savored the paces to the door. She stood in the darkness and gave herself a few breaths before stepping out. 

Her heart thrashed against her chest like a caged animal as the door opened to a man blocking her path. His lips peeled over his teeth in a sadistic grin.

“What are you doing in here?” His words curled in the air like toxic smoke. He had a pointed beard and pointed eyes and straight straight teeth. Digging deep inside her Eleena tried to find her voice.

“Lord Malgus sent me to get—"

“In the dark?” the human interrupted her. Eleena knew these word games. Everything she said would be turned around and upside down, and the only thing she could do was navigate the conversation and its million possibilities to find the softest blow. 

“You aren’t stealing that, are you?” The question came loaded with its own answer, and the messenger was jury, judge, and executioner. That is the way of power. 

“No, sir.” Eleena gave no more.

“I’ll be taking that back, then,” he purred. Eleena knew this room was not his. Nothing in here could belong to him. She could tell from his dress and demeanor, even if she hadn’t been here before, but without the status or knowledge to counter him she was helpless. 

Subtly sizing him up, it was an easy decision to anger him over Malgus. Her fingers tightened around the metal. Around the cold lump of fear in her throat she repeated, “Lord Malgus sent me.” Eleena noticed in her own tone the cadence of her defiance changed from what sentenced her to the pens on Geonosis. Something small and angry stirred inside her.

Eleena’s eyes darted across his frame, identifying likely dangers and hazards. She noticed although he was taller than her, it wasn’t by much. If she could stand up straight they wouldn’t be far off. Compared to Malgus he was much more slender, with a narrower frame and sleek muscles. While certainly not ornamental, his strength likely didn’t lie in the same areas as Malgus. 

Physical strength, however, wasn’t the only thing she had to worry about anymore. In her new world storms erupted from fingertips and invisible hands clamped down on men’s throats. Calculating for the unseen became a skill years ago, but this evolved form upturned Eleena’s understanding of that talent.

The pointed man took a threatening step toward her, reaching for his prize. Refusing to allow him to cross the threshold Eleena stood her ground. From her clenched teeth a mounting ache in her jaw seeped to her neck and forehead. The human chuckled dismissively at the tightness in her eyes as he played his power game.

Eleena’s defiant streak manifested in her eyes. She wouldn’t look down or close her eyes this time. Glaring directly into him challenged his rule over her and a soured sneer dripped down his face. 

“Is this what’s taking you so long?” The accusation cracked through the building like lightning. Eleena jumped at the impact of the commanding voice. The lethal gaze of Malgus trained on the human, not her, as he advanced towards them like a one man avalanche.

“Ah, Lord Malgus,” the human slithered a step away from Eleena, undisturbed by the stampede, barely sheathing the vibroblades in his eyes. “Is this yours?” 

Eleena couldn’t identify the object of his statement, and that made her hate him that much more. Malgus didn’t take the bait.

“Interfere again, and I will kill you.” Treacherous wordsmithing better suited the slender man. Malgus, apparently, preferred the direct approach. Eleena didn’t find herself surprised. “Come,” he ordered, turning to her for the first time since interrupting whatever scheming trap Eleena fell into.

Eleena found herself keeping stride behind the freighting Sith, gaze trained on a point between his shoulders instead of sweeping the floor.

 

Resurfacing to the present, Eleena studied the scorched lane. Black wounds like inverse starlines made their way center as her body learned the movements of aggression. Cartridge emptied, instruction for the day was over.

After a silent journey back to his chambers, behind the closed door Malgus regarded her.

“You will begin training immediately. If you are to perform your tasks and protect my assets, you will learn to do so with the efficiency I expect.”

He had all but explicitly given her permission to murder in his name. 

“Yes, Sir,” Eleena said mechanically as he took the case that held her new blasters.

“Especially,” he added over his mountainous shoulder, “If Lord Adraas ever meddles in my business again.”


End file.
